Video game publisher Electronic Arts, the second-largest U.S. maker of video games, says CEO John Riccitiello, will step down on March 30.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) says it has named Larry Probst as executive chairman while it searches for a replacement. Probst was CEO of the Redwood City, Caif.-based company from 1991 to 2007, when Riccitiello took over. Probst was EA’s CEO starting in 1991; he has been the company’s chairman since 1994. Riccitiello, who had previously worked at Sara Lee Corp., had been with EA for a decade. EA had no comment beyond the statement it issued.
Separately, EA says its revenue and earnings per share will be at the low end or below its January guidance. The company had projected profit of 57 cents to 72 cents a share, excluding items, on adjusted revenue of as much as $1.13 billion.
Electronic Arts rose 4.5 percent to $19.55 in extended trading. The shares dropped 0.9 percent to $18.71 at the close in New York and are up 29 percent this year.
EA and other traditional video game companies have been trying to adjust to a changing world where consumers are turning to mobile devices and cheap or free online games instead of buying expensive packaged titles. Electronic Arts reported lower revenue for the last three months of 2012 than it did for the same period a year earlier.
EA operates a studio in Morrisville.
(The Associated Press and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.)
